North Korea restarts nuclear facility: Report

Seoul, May 27 (DPA) North Korea appears to have restarted its nuclear reprocessing facility at Yongbyon to produce weapons-grade plutonium, a South Korean news report said Wednesday. Analysis of satellite images indicated that the facility, which had been mothballed by North Korea following a denuclearisation deal signed in February 2007, has been restarted, the Chosun Ilbo newspaper said, quoting informed sources.

Pyongyang announced in April it had rekindled reprocessing plutonium from spent fuel rods, following criticism by the UN Security Council of a North Korean rocket launch.

An underground nuclear test conducted by the Stalinist state Monday met with world-wide condemnation. Since then, North Korea is also believed to have tested several short-range ballistic missiles.